Old and new uses of electronic monitoring in Sweden

Bungerfeldt, Jan

doi:10.1080/09627251.2014.902193

Cited by 5 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 2 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…This section describes the institutional context. The outline draws heavily from previous descriptions of the Swedish system (e.g., BRÅ, 1999;Wennerberg, 2013;Bungerfeldt, 2014;Bartels and Martinovic, 2015;Dobbie et al, 2018a), and we refer to these publications for further details.…”

Section: Institutional Backgroundmentioning

confidence: 99%

Institutionen för nationalekonomi och statistik, Linnéuniversitetet

Grenet,

Grönqvist,

Niknami

2024

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Electronic monitoring (EM) has emerged as a popular tool for curbing the growth of large prison populations. Evidence on the causal effects of EM on criminal recidivism is, however, limited and it is unclear how this alternative to incarceration affects the labor supply of offenders and the outcomes of their family members. We study the country wide expansion of EM in Sweden in 1997 where in offenders sentenced to up to three months in prison were granted the option to substitute incarceration with EM. Our difference-in-differences estimates, which compare the change in the prison inflow rate of treated offenders to that of non-treated offenders with slightly longer sentences, show that the reform significantly decreased the number of incarcerations. Our main finding is that EM not only lowers criminal recidivism but also increases labor supply. Additionally, EM improves the educational attainment and early-life earnings of the children whose parents were exposed to the reform. The primary mechanisms through which EM operates appear to involve the preservation of offenders’ ties to the labor market, by reducing the barriers to both finding a job and changing employers. Our calculations suggest that the social benefits stemming from EM are about seven times larger than the fiscal savings associated with reduced prison expenditures, implying that the welfare gains from EM could be much greater than previously acknowledged.

show abstract

Section: Institutional Backgroundmentioning

confidence: 99%

Institutionen för nationalekonomi och statistik, Linnéuniversitetet

Grenet,

Grönqvist,

Niknami

2024

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…More generally, electronic monitoring might be thought to represent a "low key" or even largely socially "invisible" form of punishing, one that does not rely on conspicuous display of public symbols for its effect. Perhaps the clearest respect in which electronic monitoring might be said to be "moderate" is in comparison to imprisonment, and in particular in the extent to which it is used expressly and effectively as an alternative to imprisonment and in recognition of the pains and damage prison inflicts on those sent there (which appears to be the case to some extent in Sweden, for example [10]). (This is not to say that its relative moderation renders it ethically unproblematic, and as Bülow notes various ethical issues remain [9].)…”

Section: Electronic Monitoring Of Offenders As Penal Moderationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Moreover, uncertainty or debate surrounding these goals, and the degree to which EM is seen to achieve them, may be "drivers" in directing the development of the sanction in one way or another. For example, it appears that in Victoria, Australia, a desire for greater retribution appears a factor in abandoning EM based on RFID tags, though may yet lead to the adoption of more "controlling" GPS-based systems; whereas in Scandinavia, more rehabilitative goals are apparent [10,50].…”

Section: Penal-surveillant Excessmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

The electronic monitoring of offenders: penal moderation or penal excess?

Jones

2014

Crime Law Soc Change

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The technologies used in the electronic monitoring of offenders continue to develop, and next-generation "tags" will likely feature new capabilities. As the technology becomes more powerful, older criminal justice institutions and practices may appear increasingly anachronistic in one form or other, and their legitimacy called into question. Electronic monitoring systems may appear progressive alternatives to older forms of punishing. However, given the surveillant and controlling qualities of electronic monitoring systems, extending their use is in many respects troubling. This article seeks to examine the electronic monitoring of offenders in the light of the concepts of "penal moderation" and "penal excess", as well as to reflect on this sanction at the interface of the academic fields of the sociology of punishment and surveillance studies. It is argued that issues relating to intended aims and actual effects of the electronic monitoring of offenders go to the heart of contemporary debates and contradictions regarding penal purpose, the effects of the criminal justice system, electronic surveillance, and explanations of penal change.

show abstract

The Effects of Replacing Incarceration with Electronic Monitoring on Crime, Mortality, and Labor Market Exclusion

Al Weswasi,

Bäckman

2024

J Quant Criminol

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Objective In recent decades, electronic monitoring (EM) has increasingly come to be used as an alternative to incarceration. However, EM’s long-term effects on offenders remain unclear, especially with regard to non-recidivism-related outcomes and reincarceration risks. This study focuses on the long-term impact of EM on recidivism, mortality, and labor market exclusion. Method The study utilizes administrative data, and focuses on a Swedish EM reform as a natural experiment with a difference-in-difference approach. The reform enabled offenders sentenced to up to six months’ imprisonment to serve their sentences under EM instead of in prison. Results The findings show that introducing the possibility to transform a prison stay to EM at home reduced 10-year reconviction and reincarceration rates. They also show that the reform had long-lasting decreasing effect on the likelihood of not being in education, employment, or training (NEET). The reform had, however, no effect on all-cause mortality or death by suicide. Heterogeneity analyses show that the effects are primarily driven by individuals who had a more stable labor market attachment prior to being sentenced to prison, which suggests that EM helps offenders sustain regular employment and that it decreases the criminogenic impact of labor market detachment. Conclusion In addition to reducing the costs associated with recidivism and labor market exclusion, the reduced incarceration costs associated with transforming prison sentences to EM indicate that EM has the potential to produce net savings from a societal perspective.

show abstract

Old and new uses of electronic monitoring in Sweden

Cited by 5 publications

References 2 publications

Institutionen för nationalekonomi och statistik, Linnéuniversitetet

Institutionen för nationalekonomi och statistik, Linnéuniversitetet

The electronic monitoring of offenders: penal moderation or penal excess?

The Effects of Replacing Incarceration with Electronic Monitoring on Crime, Mortality, and Labor Market Exclusion

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About